Gov’t committed to safeguards

The Arroyo government will not hesitate to invoke the "Big Three" laws against import surges once jobs, revenue and companies are threatened, Michael Defensor, campaign spokesman of the Arroyo government, said recently.

Defensor was referring to Republic Act 8800, the Safeguards Measures Act, which empowers the secretaries of agriculture and trade to impose higher tariffs or quota restrictions on imports that cause "serious injuries" on local industries and farmers.

The other two "safety net" measures Defensor referred to are the anti-dumping laws and the countervailing duty laws. These laws are meant to prevent unfair trade and to insure that goods are traded on a level playing field.

In a radio interview, Defensor said the administration also applied various safety nets in defending local goods such as ceramic tiles, glass, car parts, and plastics. These industries are among the hardest hit by dumped imports and have suffered serious financial reverses and employment loss since the Philippines signed on to the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 1994.

Defensor said that despite the fact that these safety nets are WTO sanctioned, it was only the Arroyo administration that implemented it. He said that the strong and decisive implementation of the safety nets show that the administration is concerned about local industries and continued employment of Filipino workers. Defensor also said that its historic actions are an important legacy of the Arroyo administration.

Defensor also cited the administration’s good record in protecting local industries from "injurious imports" adding that it will not hesitate to apply safety nets such as anti-dumping and safeguard measures to save distressed local industries.

He cited the administration’s move in 2001 to impose a higher tariff on cement after importers nearly captured one-third of the market by flooding it with Japanese and Indonesian cement. The cement safeguard tariff is historical since this was the first ever safeguard measure to be imposed in the Philippines.

"When cement workers cried foul, we immediately came to their rescue. As a result we saved billions of pesos in investment and thousands of jobs. No government has been that decisive on that matter," Defensor told the Channel 2 late night talk show which had among its guests labor leader Crispin Beltran.

"We have also regulated the importation of vegetables. And to those who won’t comply, we have hit hard on smugglers of vegetables and other agricultural produce," he said. "The results of our anti-smuggling drive, especially in terms of the tonnage of confiscated smuggled rice, speak of our resolve to address unfair trade practices," Defensor said.